


The Passage

by YPM_33_KI



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Yeerks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 03:00:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13731717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YPM_33_KI/pseuds/YPM_33_KI
Summary: What if the Yeerks' approach to hosts had been just a little more...balanced? AU





	The Passage

My name is Ekkin Three-Nine-Nine-Eight. I am a yeerk - one of the few of my kind who still exist. All of us who remain must hide - amongst you, the humans, our perfect host species that we had found at last.

All we can do is keep hiding from  _them_  - from the andalites - and hope that they never ever find us. Because if they did, that would be the end. They would kill us to the last, all for the "crime" of being what we were.

But maybe we can do it. Maybe we can keep hiding. Yeerks are good at hiding, after all. That's the very thing we evolved to do.

_Your first host will be involuntary._

Those were the words that went through my mind as I waited in the pool for my name to be called. I would be getting my host, today - a human. At long last, I would have eyes, and ears, and a mouth. I would be able to taste and speak and hear and laugh and see. Finally, I would truly be free.

But was I really ready for this? Could I really handle a human? Or any host at all? I swam around in the yeerk pool in anxious little circles, trying to remember all that my tutors had said. Now, more than ever before, their words would matter.

_Allow your host at least one hour of control each day. Monitor them carefully. If they attempt to escape, reassert control immediately. But do not punish them otherwise._

_Spend some time each day on recreation which only requires only sight or hearing to take part in. Let them forget that you're there. Don't talk to them unless they speak first, and don't move their body more than you must._

Infesting an involuntary host was a rite of passage for young yeerks like myself. I had to do it. All of my older brothers and sisters had done it, and all were now accepted by their hosts to at least some level. I should have felt sure of what I was doing. I was a  _yeerk_ ; this was what I  _made for._

Why didn't I feel sure?

_Always respond to your host if they speak. Answer any questions or concerns they have. Do not get aggressive._

_Do not access memories while your host is conscious, unless in an emergency._

It all seemed to make so much sense, but…what if my host just wanted me gone? There was an answer to that too, of course. The pool tutors had answers for everything. That's why they were tutors.

_Be calm, but firm. Describe a yeerk's natural state to your host, and emphasise the senses that the host retains._

I echolocated then. I was utterly surrounded by my fellow yeerks in the overcrowded pool, all swimming around one another, all blind to the beauty of the world above. But there was no-one around who I could speak to - no tutors, and no close friends. For now, I was alone.

((Ekkin Three-Nine-Nine-Eight to the infestation pier.))

 _Too late to go back now,_ I thought.  _Don't think. Just do._ I swam over to the pier as quickly as my slug-like body would allow.

When I got there, the human was thrashing. He was too strong, and in too much of a panic to be completely held down. He was moving too much; there was no way I get inside of him like that. More people must have grabbed him then, because all at once his movements lessened. I sensed my chance, and I swam into the ear before he could struggle any further.

I took over quickly. I sank into every crevice of his brain, numbing his body and claiming it as my own. I opened his eyes -  _my_ eyes. From now on, this human belonged to me.

He was still trying to move of course, but his numbed limbs refused to obey him. His mind was just a mess of noise. He wasn't even shouting at me; he was too scared to form words.

Slowly, hesitantly, I reached out to him.

((Hello?))

And with that, my life as a yeerk truly began.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little something that I put together on FF.net a while back. I wouldn't mind turning it into a longer piece some day...assuming I ever figure out what exactly I want to do with it. In any case, hope you enjoy!


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